Mr. Lu and Ms. Xu, now in their 60s, were last arrested on July 23,2009. Mr Lu has since been sentenced to one year of forced labor. Ms Xu has been subjected to ongoing police harassment.

The Persecution of Mr. Lu Gentao and Ms. Xu Fengbao in Shanghai 

Falun Gong practitioners Mr. Lu Gentao and his wife, Ms. Xu Fengbao, are both over 60 and live in Pudong New District, Shanghai. They lived as a very happy family until the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. Since then, they have been arrested and imprisoned several times, most recently in 2009.

In 2000, Ms. Xu was arrested in Beijing for appealing for the right to practice Falun Gong. She was later sent to a forced labor camp.

In 2001, the couple's daughter was also taken to a forced labor camp. Mr. Lu and his son-in-law could only visit his wife and daughter once a month. Eventually both mother and daughter were released, but their daughter stopped practicing Falun Gong because she was unable to bear the CCP's persecution anymore.

On November 23, 2005, Ms. Xu was arrested when she was distributing informational materials about Falun Gong in a residential neighborhood. The police went to her home to confiscate such personal belongings as a computer, printer, and so on. They also duped Mr. Lu into going to the detention center and then imprisoned him also. He was sentenced to one year in jail but was let out on bail with restricted movement to await trial.

Ms. Xu was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. She was taken to the Songjiang Women's Prison and was forced to perform slave labor and endure brainwashing. She refused to be "transformed," so she was not allowed to buy food or fruit while in prison. During the once-a-month family phone visit, the guards threatened to revoke her visits if she said anything that didn't meet the guard's requirements.

During that time, whenever a sensitive date occurred, the residential committee would send people to monitor Mr. Lu around the clock. They also followed him wherever he went. The monitoring and surveillance finally stopped after residents in his neighborhood protested on Mr. Lu's behalf.

In May 2009, Ms. Xu was released and sent home. But two months later, on July 23, officers from Jinyang New Village Police Station and CCP staffs of  Jinyang Street Residential Committee arrested Mr. Lu and Ms. Xu at 9 p.m. The couple were taken to the police station, and their computer and other personal items were confiscated by the police. Mr. Lu was taken to Zhangjiang Detention Center in Shanghai that night. His family hasn't seen him since, except when they witnessed him being sentenced to one year of forced labor. The CCP charged him with the "crime" of "sending 100 instant messages."

During the recent CCP's National day, the CCP staff monitored Ms. Xu and followed her everywhere.